Lost
by Ark the Ancient
Summary: When an earthbound deity is forcefully deposited on the not-so-innocent planet of shuggazoom, how will this immense power affect the battle between good versus evil? Reviews please?
1. Chapter 1

_Yeah, I'm still alive, go figure. Either way, as of now, my previous story line for SRMTHFG is null and void, permanently discontinued. Don't worry though, I gave it to the One to Rule them All. Also, I'm starting a new story line, who's only relation to the old one is that the character, Ark (my role-play character in numerous places) meets some of the authors._

_Also, Twister91 (Cait) is going to be in this chapter, most likely, and in numerous subsequent ones. Enjoy._

**Lost**

_**Chapter 1**_

Ark sat comfortably in his home, staring out the window over the lush forest that surrounded it. He'd lived here for longer than he had anywhere else, a total of two years. He chuckled softly to himself; he normally was dragged away from anywhere he even temporarily calls home. It was always some disease or sandstorm, a river overflowing. Seemingly anything that someone could come up with.

He had developed a hobby of inventing in his rare spare time. Tinkering with magnetic fields and imitating solar disturbances. Currently, he was relaxing after a long day's work in hi basement, working on his latest project: a cannon that could fire controlled bursts of solar energy by confining the plasma within a magnetic field. Unfortunately, said cannon just destroyed most of his equipment.

Ark stood and stretched, staring outside as snow began to fall. He smiled slightly. Days like these reminded him of his friends that he left so long ago. He decided to go back down stairs and work on the cannon again.

Ark took his time getting down stairs, taking care to grab the fire extinguisher fro under the kitchen sink.

Silently, he also grabbed some fruit and placed them in the pouch in his baggy robes, which were over sized and sandy colored. He took a moment to fix his blonde hair in the mirror, blinking his blue eyes when a glint of light reflected off of it and caught his eye. Quickly, he reeled around to hear footsteps running into the basement. Without a second thought, he followed; realizing that his own natural abilities would protect him from any would be thief.

His stride was quick and silent, flowing down the stairwell like a gust of desert wind. Soon, he had rounded the corner at the foot of the stairs only to see a figure clothed darkly turn to look at him, its eyes glowing red. Suddenly, as quickly as it had appeared it vanished. Ark absently grabbed a piece of pipe of the table next to him, slowly approaching the spot where the figure was, his fingers flexing in his white knuckle grip on the pipe.

Suddenly, he heard a metallic clang behind him, causing him to pale considerably. It was coming form the direction of where the cannon was situated. Ark reeled around faster than he ever could before to see the dark figure standing at the cannon's controls. It reached out a bony hand and hit the firing button, a ball of plasma at incredibly high speeds at Ark.

What happened next was quite possibly pure luck or an intervention of a higher power. Either way, the ball of plasma somehow managed to miss Ark, tearing past him at the speed of light. The sheer speed of the plasma ripped a hole in space, sucking Ark into it and closing as the plasma clouded with the far wall and obliterated Ark's home.

Meanwhile, in the Super Robot, a normal day was in progress. Antauri, on the other hand, was feeling far from normal that day. He had sensed a disturbance in the natural flow of the planet's life force. He couldn't quite place it, but whatever it was, it was rather close. He jokingly considered it to have possibly been the tension in the air between Sprx and Nova. He even chuckled to himself when he thought that it could have possibly been Cait. His lightheartedness soon diminished however when a warning siren flared and Chrio ran into the room. "Something's appeared in the desert; Gibson's trying to find out what." He stated in a collected but urgent manner. "We're going to check it out."

Antauri followed Chiro out of the room and proceeded to his station. Within moments, after their traditional battle cry, the Super Robot lifted into the air and took off towards the south.

Ark opened his eyes slowly, staring up at the glaring sun in the sky. Memories of his encounter with the would be burglar flooded his mind, but he did not stir. It didn't take much to realize he wasn't at home anymore. For starters, it must have been nearly one hundred degrees when it was snowing before. Secondly, he was laying on a sand dune in what was recently a forest.

Slowly he stood, brushing himself off, touching a spot of tender skin where the plasma had passed close to. Some of his clothing was burned away, revealing a relatively nasty burn on his right side. He paid no heed, however. His heightened healing would soon take care of that.

Absent mindedly, he dug a hand into his pouch and withdrew a now broiled pear. The heat of the plasma had thoroughly cooked it. He took a bite and began to walk forwards with the wind, which was mercifully cool coming from behind him.

He took this time to try and piece together what had happened. The last thing he remembered was the cannon firing and the feeling of being pulled upon. He considered the prospect that he was in hell, judging by the heat. He quickly dismissed that, however. This was merely the desert, something in which he felt rather at home. Oddly enough, his cannon seemed to have worked better than expected, firing much quicker than designed.

He walked for nearly an hour, deep in thought. The figure had obviously tampered with the machine, firing the plasma at a near light speed, at least. He derived this from the fact that his burn was so mild, representing only a flash burn, and he did not receive serious eye damage. He then began to theorize that he could have been sucked into the stuff of science fiction, an alternate dimension, opened by the plasma tearing a hole in space. He decided this was as likely as any. Seemingly impossible theories had been proven true before anyhow.

Suddenly, a glint of metal caught his eye directly ahead of him. He stopped for a second, shielding his eyes. Whatever it was, it was closing in on him rather quickly.

At the same time, Gibson had gotten a visual on Ark and proceeded to show everyone on board including Cait. Chiro was the first to speak. "It's just a human, but, what's he doing way out here?" he questioned.

Antauri responded "He's not just some human, he's got a strange aura, he seems very confused."

"I say we do this diplomatically, but we should be ready just incase. Sprx, have weapons charged." Chiro ordered.

"Sure thing kid." Sprx chimed as electricity was heard humming in the walls.

Ark's skin began to tingle. He could now clearly make out a large robot in the distance, maybe a mile away at most. He could feel the electricity surging within it. Instead of being filled with the need to defend himself, however, he was more curious than ever. He crouched low to the ground before leaping up with all his might, sand blowing out in all directions as he only sound that could be heard was the roar of the robot's engine and the rustling of Ark's robes. He soared upwards, reaching up and grabbing onto the edge of the apparent eye socket, hoisting himself up and hanging by his feet, upside down, peering curiously into the robot's eye.

Inside the robot, the Hyper Force was now at a loss. "He's most definitely not human." Nova stated, looking at Ark's face as he stared at the camera mounted on the robot's head.

"He's human but he seems to be enhanced somehow." Gibson chimed. "I can assure you whatever it is fully biological, he has no cybernetics."

Antauri looked directly at Ark through the robot's eye before Ark began climbing down around the chest of the robot. "Sprx, set us down." He stated.

Sprx did so hesitantly, unsure if he should give up the robot's maneuverability. "You sure about this?" he questioned.

Chiro spoke up. "I'm going outside, Antauri, you're coming too. The rest of you be prepared to give us back up." He finished as the fot altch opened and he and Antauri stepped outside.

Ark's ear twitched at the noise of the latch opening. He looked down and saw two figures walk out of an opening in the robot's foot and look up at him. Ark tilted his head in confusion. If he was in another dimension, why was there a human boy? Either way, he leapt backwards, landing softly and soundlessly on the sand. He curiously eyed the boy for a second before turning his attention to the white robotic monkey at the boy's side. Ark looked back at the boy and spoke softly. "Do you speak English?"

Chiro looked at the man skeptically for a second. "I understand you, but what's English?" he questioned.

"The language I'm speaking is English." Ark responded calmly. "You can power down you're weapons, I'm not going to fight you." He continued, motioning to the robot.

"So you call this language English? Where are you from stranger?" Chiro asked as Antauri eyed Ark carefully.

"Earth." Ark stated plainly. "This isn't Earth, is it?" he continued, rubbing his temples.

"This is Shuggazoom, but, we have a crew member from Earth, maybe she can help you out." Chiro said comfortably.

"It's fine, that just proved my theory anyways." Ark sighed. "I've got to get going, anywhere I can find a high powered magnet and plasma transistor?" Ark stated jokingly, looking off into the desert.

"On board the robot we might have some of that equipment. Why?" Chiro asked.

"I need to rebuild a cannon I was working on, some idiot tampered with it and sent me here." Ark explained. "Why would someone you're age have a giant robot anyways?" Ark asked absently.

"Well, my name's Chiro." Chiro stated, extending a hand to Ark as Antauri watched.

"It's a pleasure, the name's Ark. If you don't mind my asking, what's with the monkey?" Ark said, motioning to Antauri.

"He's my second in command, we're the Hyperforce, and we defend the planet against the evil of the Skeleton King." Chiro explained. "Why don't you come inside, I'll introduce you to everyone. This is Antauri, aside from being second in command; he's also our spiritual advisor." Chiro continued.

"No offence, but I've never suspected people take spiritual advice from a monkey." Ark stated, eying Antauri momentarily. "It must be difficult to communicate."

Chiro went to speak when Antauri interrupted him. "Chiro, we might as well go inside to explain this, though we should still be weary of him, he could be in league with the Skeleton King." Chiro nodded in response.

"Why don't we just go inside to talk, it's pretty hot out here." Chiro stated with a smile, motioning inside.

"So you understand him…" Ark mumbled. "Sure, I'll join you inside. Just give me a moment; I'm going to get some water." He continued.

Chiro went to say something as Ark walked a few feet off and bent down to the sand, placing his hand on it. "There it is." He mumbled as the sand started to swirl around his hands, which were wrapped in bandages. The sand parted in a circle before water filled the growing ditch. Chiro and Antauri watched amazedly as Ark bent down and took some water in his hands to drink.

Within a few moments he turned back around. "It's just water, come get some if you want." He stated, reaching in his pouch and withdrawing the now cooked fruits he had from earlier. He bent down and dug a hole near the water, burying them.

Chiro spoke up suddenly. "How did you do that?" he asked as he approached the water.

"I am a child of the desert, I control the sands." Ark stated. "Now, would you please explain this robot to me, you didn't answer when I asked before." Ark finished.

Chiro explained how he had found the robot and the hyperforce as they went inside and proceeded to introduce everyone. Ark, who looked curious, was at the same time very confused. Apparently these monkeys were the boy's family. He'd have to keep that in mind.

Finally, Chiro introduced Ark to Cait, who proceeded to bombard him with questions. "You're from Earth?" she questioned finally.

"Yes, assumedly so are you. I don't think I'm from the same Earth, however." Ark stated. "Humans don't often cross the galaxy where I'm from."

After talking for a while Ark was thoroughly exhausted mentally. "This is a lot for one day, and I've seen a lot in my life, trust me." Ark stated, rubbing his temples. "Can you give me a lift the nearest Inn?" he asked Chiro.

"Don't be ridiculous, you're going to stay with us." He stated.

"No, I'm not one to impose." Ark stated. "Thanks though."

"I'm not going to take no for an answer." Chiro laughed, "You can stay here as long as it takes for you to get home." He finished, ushering Ark down the hallway into a guest room. "This can be your room." He stated. "Get some rest; I'll get Gibson to help you in the morning."

Ark nodded and thanked Chiro and rested himself on the bed, quickly delving into deep thought, as he was not able to physically sleep, a plague of having a constantly regenerating body.

"Kid, I don't think we should trust him." Sprx stated as he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. "We don't know where he came from, or who he is. He could be the enemy for all we know!"

"Shut up Sprx." Nova stated. "Antauri's meditating."

"I don't really know what to think of him, truthfully." Chiro stated, sighing. "How did he get way out there if his story isn't true anyways? Wouldn't our sensors have picked up a space craft?" Chiro asked Gibson who furrowed his brow in thought.

"That's true, but what puzzles me is how he manipulated the sand." Gibson wondered aloud. "Our sensors picked up a near non-existent natural energy spike within his body. He's drawing on an enhanced energy in his body our sensors can't detect."

Antauri suddenly spoke up. "I have some doubts, but his mind is clouded with confusion. It's odd, but I think he knows I'm poking around in his mind. Nothing is locked away, it's almost as if he's just letting me search." He murmured.

Otto spoke after a moment. "What did he say he was building when he was transported here again?"

"A magnetically accelerated plasma cannon." Chiro stated absently.

"I don't understand how that could have gotten him here." Gibson stated. "The person who reportedly tampered with it obviously had to be quick to make any alteration that could cause him to be ripped from his dimension."

Chiro was about to speak when Antauri winced slightly in his meditation. "What's wrong Antauri?" Chiro asked worriedly.

"He definitely knows I'm in his mind now. I don't believe I was supposed to open that door." He sighed, exiting his meditative pose. "He seems to be perfectly in order though, aside from what I just saw, that is." Antauri stated, walking over to the others.

"What did you see anyways Antauri?" Nova asked.

Antauri looked like he was going to speak, but then seemed to change his mind. "It's not our business. He'll tell us when he's ready. I'm going to go check on him though." Antauri said as the others resolved to go to bed.

Antauri slowly and quietly opened the door and peered in, only to see Ark staring back at him. "Have fun inside my head?" he asked with a sigh. "Can you even understand me?" Ark continued. Antauri nodded and came in the room and closed the door. Ark stared curiously at him as he proceeded to sit on the chair next to his bed. "I have an idea." Ark stated. "If I let you back into my mind, couldn't we speak telepathically?"

Antauri nodded and assumed a meditative position, not taking his eyes off of Ark. "Can you hear me?" Antauri said telepathically.

"Yes I can." Ark replied telepathically. "Next time ask before you go poking around." He continued. "I normally don't allow strangers poking around my memories."

Antauri apologized before hesitantly asking a question. "The last one, what was that? It confuses me greatly."

"It's the future. I'm a prophet." Ark stated plainly. "You should go rest, we'll discuss this further in the morning."

_Well? GET REVIEWING! Flames will be used to warm my currently cold hands._


	2. Chapter 2

_Well, buddies, thanks for reviewing, and I'm sorry if these chapters take time, but I'm aiming for quality in the end, hehe._

**Lost**

**Chapter 2**

Morning came soon enough, and with it Cait peering through Ark's doorway. "You're up?" she asked. "It's six in the morning."

"I don't sleep Miss Cait," he answered. "My body regenerates itself so that I don't need to," he explained, stretching slightly.

"Oh, well, breakfast is up!" she yelled excitedly, taking off down the halls.

Ark stared confusedly after her. "But, I don't know how to get to where the food is…" he murmured, sighing afterwards. Silently, he opened his door, looking both directions and going the direction in which Cait had run off. He gazed absently at the bland hallways, wandering aimlessly until he heard noise not far down a hallway to his left. He turned quietly and followed it to its end.

He soon found himself in the main room, the residents of the robot going about their business, not noticing he had entered. After a moment of looking around, he silently proceeded to a table where Chiro, Cait, Antauri and Gibson were sitting.

"There you are," Chiro stated. "What took you so long?"

"Miss Cait didn't tell me how to get here," he said plainly as the others looked at Cait.

"I wanted breakfast, all right!" she yelled in response, huffing and continuing to eat.

"Sit down and have something to eat," Chiro stated as Antauri and Gibson nodded. Ark promptly took a seat next to the boy.

Ark looked at the food for a second. 'It looks normal enough…' he thought, seeing numerous manners of fruit in a bowl in the center of the table. "Um…" he murmured. "I don't know if I should eat this," he stated, staring at an orange and purple polka dotted apple in the center. "It might be toxic to me."

Cait laughed. "If you eat apples and oranges on your Earth, then you can eat this stuff."

"Oh…" Ark stated, taking a small bite out of the fruit. He was mildly surprised to find himself alive, and proceeded to eat the fruit.

"So… what are you going to do?" Chiro asked.

"Get home, somehow…" he stated. "Even if I move around quite often, I still miss it," he stated quietly. "I'll some how have to rebuild and recalibrate the cannon I was working on. I'm just hoping it will land me in my universe," he continued. "I'm going to need to find a suitable metal that can withstand that kind of heat, as well as a powerful pair of magnets."

"We have the magnets already," Chiro stated, motioning to Sprx who was trying to defend himself against Nova.

"I also have another idea, but I'm going to need someone else with a lot of technical knowledge to help me with it," he stated, staring curiously at the fight that was going on.

"Gibson can help you," Chiro stated, motioning to Gibson who just stared at him. He started making monkey noises, earning curious and surprised glances from Ark. Gibson then smiled and waved, signifying that he understood.

"I'm going to attempt to make some sort of translation device so that communication would at least be possible," he stated, thinking at the same time.

"Okay, we can get to work on that now then," Chiro stated as everyone stood up from the table.

"We need to talk about what I saw last night," Antauri said in Ark's mind.

"Fair enough, but I'd prefer to discuss it in the open, so I'm going to work on the translator," Ark stated, following Gibson who had turned and motioned to him.

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The events that occurred during that day were not the most entertaining, and certainly irrelevant. Seeing as though Chiro had business to attend to, he could not translate, making lab progress excruciatingly slow. Somehow or another, they managed to create a translator, after a good ten hours.

"Does it work?" Ark asked, looking at Gibson. Gibson smiled.

"I believe so, I can understand you," he replied.

"Apparently, vice versa also applies, Mr. Gibson," Ark replied with a smile. "You are a brilliant inventor, Mr. Gibson, how did you get it to work?"

Gibson was about to reply when an alarm sounded and the robot was thrown to one side, sending Ark and Gibson flying across the lab. Right before they hit the wall, a small pile of sand cushioned their fall. "I brought it in my pack," Ark explained after Gibson looked at him curiously. "I didn't know if you were friendly or not." Gibson merely nodded, taking off down the hall and telling Ark to follow.

Within moments, the two were in the main room, seeing everyone go to their battle stations. Gibson hastily waved at Ark and told him to hold tight, and ran of to his station. 'I'm not just going to sit around,' Ark thought, looking outside to see they were still in the desert. Chiro ran by him suddenly, and he turned. "Chiro, please, let me help," he stated plainly.

"We don't have time, they're invading the…" he started as Ark sighed.

"I'm sorry, but you have to," he stated, looking Chiro in the eyes. Chiro nodded, hitting a key that opened an airlock. Ark promptly leapt out from the robot's chest, landing on the desert below.

The desert and city were crawling with black figures. Every inch was consumed with their blackness. "What are those things?" Ark asked disgustedly, a few slinking towards him.

"They're formless, minions of the Skeleton King." Chiro announced over the loudspeaker. "Extremely hostile, we've got to keep them out of the city."

Ark crouched down and curiously looked at one of the creatures as it approached him. It stared at him for a moment before slashing out with its claws at Ark's face. The claw was a few centimeters from Ark's face when a column of sand rose from under the creature, blasting it backwards. "Interesting creatures…" He muttered, remaining crouched. He raised his arms in front of himself, with his palms up. He jumped quickly, twirling into a full spin in the air as a massive wave of sand burst upward, sweeping in a circle, and tossing the formless into the air. He then violently slammed his fists together as two steams of sand collided into each other, smashing the formless in their way. Ark landed nimbly on the ground, brushing of his robes.

He looked up at the robot behind him. "Mr. Chiro, please deal with the creatures closer to the city, I do not want to use my powers in such close proximity to civilians."

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Within a few hours, the outbreak had been contained, and a battered Hyper Force as well as their temporary ship mate retired for the evening. Antauri was walking through the main room when Ark's mind call stopped him. Antauri did not yet have a translator, so they relied on telepathy.

"Mr. Antauri, would you care to explain where those things originate, as well as your team? I will explain myself also, for consolation." Ark stated calmly. Antauri merely nodded, and the pair staid up into the night discussing one another's past.


	3. Chapter 3

**Lost**

**Chapter 3**

Around seven thirty the next morning, Antauri and Ark were still talking quietly in the main room. The rest of the team was allowed to rest after their long fight, a privilege not often acquired.

It was around this time that the topic of the disturbing image that Antauri had happened upon, Ark's prophesy, came up. Antauri asked Ark what exactly the prophesy said. Ark was hesitant to answer, but did so anyway.

"That prophesy is my last moment in the mortal plane." Ark explained. "I will only be able to move on if I kill my closest friend." Ark finished.

Antauri stared at him with and unreadable expression. "Would you do it?" he asked quietly.

Ark's eyes became distant for a moment before he regained his composure. "Yes." He whispered.

Antauri merely nodded. "It is your decision to make. It is a harsh trade, your friend's soul for your eternal sleep."

Ark shuddered minutely after a moment of intense silence, only visible because of Antauri's robotic sensors. "They would join me on the great plain." He said stoically. "You will eventually go there too, but far before my time." He whispered bitterly. "I will see many more deaths before my time is up. This world will end with my leaving it." He finished harshly, his eyes watering slightly.

He looked at Antauri. "The others must never know." He said quietly.

Antauri merely placed a hand on his shoulder. "They will not." He stated soothingly. "They will not."

Most of the Hyperforce were more than slightly unnerved at Ark's silence during breakfast. Cait stared at him for a moment, seeing him stare off into space. 'What's wrong with him?' she thought, watching him excuse himself and ask how he could get outside. Chiro Kindly led him out towards the airlock.

"What's up with him?" Sprx blurted out suddenly, earning a glare from Nova. Antauri coughed softly, shifting slightly in his seat. Gibson picked up on his body language easily.

"Antauri, you know something, don't you?" he asked, everyone at the table looked towards Antauri questioningly.

"I asked him some personal questions that stirred up unpleasant memories." Antauri responded flatly. "He is just troubled, give him time."

Ark stared silently out over the desert. The dunes stretched endlessly of into the distance. Sand danced around Ark's feet, swirling and spreading in tune with his thoughts. 'Why am I in this place?' Ark thought. 'I have no reason to interfere with this dimension, so should I prioritize getting home?' he thought.

"No, I'm here for a reason." He concluded. "Ishilrah has willed it."

Cait skipped happily about the hallways of the robot. Why she was in such a pleasant mood was anyone's guess, but, I myself figure it has to do with the fuming monkey she was dragging behind her. "Come on Onyx! Chin up!" she chimed as he freed himself from her vice grip on his tail and stood.

His voice was a deep and angry growl when he responded. "I don't like him, there are enough of us already, and we don't need some freeloading weakling hanging around either!"

Cait giggled. "Well, look who's talking!" she laughed, falling on the floor and pointing at her furious companion.

Onyx's fur bristled. "Why you!" he bellowed, lunging at her.

Before he could get to her, however, he was pinned to the ceiling by a column of sand. "It would behoove you to respect your comrades Ms. Cait." Ark stated walking past her and staring up at Onyx. "It would also prove beneficial for you to gain some patience, Mr. Onyx." He stated as the sand column disintegrated and the sand flew into his pouch.

Onyx growled as he watched Ark continue down the halls, curiously staring at random computers and monitors as he went. "See! He's no good!" Onyx snarled, turning to Cait. Cait merely sighed, stood up and proceeded down the hall in her original direction, leaving a furious Onyx in her wake.

Ark had quietly asked Chiro where he could blow off some steam, and, politely, Chiro led him, throwing back a curious glance now and then. Chiro left Ark to train by himself.

Around an hour later, the team came down for group training only to find Ark still going at it. They watched quietly as he seemed to be lost in his own mind, his sand flying furiously around his feet. His eyes narrowed suddenly as the sand shot forward, compressing into a glass spike which lodged itself around a foot into the metal wall before exploding into shards, some flying back and leaving cuts along Ark's skin. He promptly dropped to his knees as the team ran to help him.

The next few hours were a blur. He finally became totally aware of where he was around three hours later. He was sitting on a bench, watching the others train, and Nova was sitting next to him. "Ms. Nova?" he questioned.

"So you speak? We were worried you've just been staring into space." She responded, staring at him. "What happened?"

Ark was hesitant. "I was thinking about my friends." He stated.

"Then, why were you so angry? Did they betray you or something?" she asked curiously.

"No, but… they're dead. I couldn't save them. I wasn't there when they needed me." He said, his eyes narrowing again. "It's my fault."

Nova's gaze softened. "No, it's not you're fault. It's how things were meant to be." She stated reassuringly as they continued to watch the others train.

"Thank you." He responded, regaining his soft and unreadable smile. "You should go train also, I'm fine." He stated after a moment.

"Nonsense! You're coming too then, if you're fine." She chuckled and led Ark out onto the training field.

Several hours later, the sun was setting on another long day. Ark was sitting alone outside the robot, watching the clouds. Chiro walked up and sat next to him. "Mind if I join you?" he asked.

"No, Mr. Chiro." He responded. Chiro sat down and watched the clouds also.

"We've decided that you may join the team until you can go home." Chiro stated, looking to Ark, who smiled softly.

Ark chuckled lightly. "Reporting for duty, sir." He stated, looking at Chiro and giving and grinning.


	4. Chapter 4

**Lost**

**Chapter 4**

The next day started off just as the other ones had. Get up, eat, and train. Something was not right with the world today, Ark concluded to himself. There was the distinct stench of evil making his senses burn and his instincts scream. Ark had come to rely on this sixth sense; after all, he'd had an eternity to prove if it was always correct. He decided to speak to Antauri about it at dinner.

Unfortunately, he did not get the chance. A sudden jolt sent the robot lurching to one side, flinging it's occupants into the air, equipment shattering and everyone generally becoming beat up by flying training equipment. Ark slammed his head against a door frame mid-flight, and promptly blacked out.

He awoke several hours later, tied up with the rest of the team. He looked around to notice that they were surrounded by thousands of the so called formless. He took it casually, making mental note that he was the first one awake. The formless parted quickly to let a cloaked figure walk through. He had a bony hand curled around a staff, and his red eyes blazed in his skull.

He laughed darkly. "The so called prophet, Ark, I presume." Ark cocked his head in a curious manner, studying the strange being.

"Yes, that is my name sir." Ark answered, calmly. "It was impolite of you to attack us."

The Skeleton King laughed evilly. "Your etiquette is… refreshing, boy." He stated. "I am the Skeleton King."

"That I already knew." Ark stated calmly. "But you have made a foolish error, Mr. Skeleton King. You do not know me." Ark finished as glass javelins began raining down upon the formless, skewering hundreds. The Skeleton King snarled and fired a spell from his staff, which was deftly blocked by a wall of sand. Ark could feel the others stirring.

"Please, I cannot fight them all while tied up." Ark muttered, sweating from exertion. Chiro nodded as Otto cut the ropes, freeing them all.

The battle raged for hours, leaving a battered and bruised Monkey Team in a stare down with the skeleton King. Onyx charged him, only to be backhanded, landing in a heap on the floor. Cait ran over to see if he was alright.

Ark grimaced and charged the Skeleton king, only to be met with a sharp pain and the sickening sound of blood raining onto the sand.

The rest of the team froze, horrified by the sight before them. There was Ark, hunched over with the Skeleton King's staff cleanly impaled through him. The Skeleton King Laughed bitterly, twisting the staff before violently withdrawing it. Ark vomited blood as the others ran to help him as the Skeleton King took a step back and laughed.

Suddenly however, everything stopped at the sound of quiet laughter coming from Ark. He stood, the wound visibly closing as he laughed darkly, striking fear into all there. "You foolish mortal, you are no King." He sneered, "You are not fit to be even a servant for me." He laughed as the Skeleton King Snarled.

"Boy, what gives you the right to talk to someone far more powerful than you!" he yelled. Ark smirked, revealing elongated canine teeth.

"It is my right by divine providence, and by my throne." Ark hissed, an evil energy rolling off of him. "I am the King of Foxes." He hissed, two fox ears becoming visible on top of his head and five fox tails fanning out behind him. "Your fate is sealed, mortal." He hissed, vanishing instantly and re-appearing behind the Skeleton King, kicking him into the air. He was promptly intercepted by Chiro, who landed a solid punch, rocketing him back to earth and the waiting monkey team.

The skeleton King blew them away with a blast of evil energy and caught Cait and Chiro by the throat. A dark swirling portal opened up and the Skeleton King laughed as he jumped in. "I wonder how the _Great King of Foxes _will fair while fighting his own friends!" he yelled.

Antauri and Onyx sprang into action as Ark dashed for the portal "Noo!" they yelled, flying through the portal as Ark skidded to a halt, his power vanishing as he saw the postal close.

"Bastard… you hellish bastard! I'll kill you!" Ark screamed, his power returning with such a force that it kicked up a sandstorm. "You cannot escape my vengeance you weak minded mortal!" he yelled before falling to his knee. Nova and the three other remaining team members ran over to him. "It's all my fault… again…" Ark muttered before passing out. Nova, Otto, Gibson, and Sprx shared solemn and weary glances before bringing Ark back to the robot.

The four remaining original team members left him in the medical room and sat solemnly around the table in the main room. "What are we going to do…?" Nova muttered. Sprx hugged her softly. "It's going to be fine, Nova. I'm sure they're alright."

"Quite the contrary, I'm afraid." The skeleton Kings voice boomed as the monitor came to life in front of them. "But, see for yourself…" he sneered, moving out of the way to show the imprisoned Monkey Team members being fit with mind control collars.

"Oh god no…" Nova whispered. "You… bastard!" Sprx spit, his eyes softening when he heard Chiro yell. "You'll pay for this bonehead!"

Ark stumbled into the room silently, not making a noise as the now collared team members eyes took on a sisnster glare. They bowed to Skeleton King. "We are at your service, my Liege." Chiro stated. The Skeleton King only laughed as the link went dead and the only sound was Nova's chocked sobs.

After a moment Otto spoke up. "Well shit… now what? We can't just barge in there and fight them! They're our friends! Family!" He yelled.

Gibson spoke up. "That's obvious, Otto. We just need to keep calm and recover for a few days, form a plan. Then we'll go get them."

Sprx was about to speak when Ark interjected. "I agree with Gibson, we have our best chance if we're at top form." He stated.

"Ark.." Nova started. "It's not your fault…" she finished.

Ark didn't respond, but rather, he turned silently and strode out of the room.


	5. Chapter 5

_Long awaited by a few people, seeing as most of the SRMTHFG section no longer respects the old-schoolers. –waves cane—Get off my lawn you little… wait, not that old, anyhow…_

_I was struck with inspiration this week, and since I'm done with my contest entries, and I had a nice little message chat with Netbug, I decided to stop neglecting my roots and update for this. Let's see, fight scene set up… check, emo moment… check. We're good to go._

_On another note, pm me if you want a picture of Ark. Also, people, anyone else notice how this site is going to hell in a hand basket with half-assed writers? Filling a story with O.C. characters does not suddenly make it appealing, if it's under a thousand words a chapter, it shouldn't be a chapter. Don't ever write in stream of consciousness, ever. "Lolz I'm not good at summaries" isn't an excuse, and damn well isn't getting you readers. I'd really like to see things handled more maturely, don't make me get out my handgun, now if any of you display those symptoms, please, try your hardest to fix them. For the love of God, I'll beta you! There's a reason I'm head and founder of the writing club. I'm going to be doing creative writing in college! If you think you're amazing, remember, you're almost definitely not. _

_Also, careful making your whole chapter an authors note, you can be temporarily banned for it, and no song fics or script style, I've learned my lesson on those. Also, don't reply to reviews in story, that's grounds for banning too._

_If none of you know who I am, or say "You don't have any other stories here, you're not old school, blah blah blah…" Just shut up, I deleted those things, I had around four, all one after the other, and they were popular, and I'll be the first to tell you, they were horrible. Popular and horrible._

_If you have comments about this rant, tell me in a review, politely and maturely, otherwise I'll consider it a flame. People who flame me do not enjoy life very much for some time afterward._

**Lost**

**Chapter 5**

It had been approximately three days since the incident with the Skeleton King, and spirits were unsurprisingly low aboard the Super Robot. Arguments were commonplace, Nova being to proud and stubborn and Sprx being too egotistical and brash, but the scarce rbot crew managed to scrape along. Gibson and Otto had actually been getting along famously, working on repairs night and day, finally having the entire robot, and its crew, in perfect working order by the afternoon of the second day.

Yes, this third day was for rest, and the team had dealt with more brutal hardships before. It wasn't but noon on this third day before absently noted to the others that she hadn't seen Ark since the fight with the Skeleton King. As nods of agreement swept across the small party, the realization that no one had seen or heard from him in three days turned into worry, and the group spread out across the robot looking for him.

Unsurprisingly, it was Gibson who happened upon him in the training room. Ark was totally oblivious to his entrance, and was locked deep in a trance, his clothes tattered and bloodied.

"Found him, training bay four." Gibson stated over the radio before cautiously approaching the sleeping prophet and tapping him on the shoulder.

Ark opened one eye. "Yes, Mr. Gibson, how may I help you?" Ark stated in a bored tone.

Gibson rubbed the back of his head. "No help need, we just haven't seen you in a few days, so we got worried. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just dirty." Ark sighed. "Your equipment is very efficient." Ark stated, absently removing a shard of glass from his arm as the wound closed.

"Lets get you cleaned up then." Gibson chuckled before leading Ark back to the sleeping quarters.

In fifteen minutes, Gibson heard a nock on his lab room door. He opened it politely, smiling and taking in Ark's clothes.

Ark had bandages covering half of his face, leaving his right eye visible with his fox ears poking through the bandages. He wore a high, baggy collar on a long sleeved, dark brown shirt which covered the lower half of his face. He wore pants of the same color, and was barefoot.

Ark stuffed his hands quietly in his pockets. "Much, much more comfortable." He sighed, leaning against the door frame. "When do we head out?"

Gibson sighed and scratched his chin. "Well, as soon as possible would be ideal, but it'd be much more efficient supply wise if we waited for them to come to us." Gibson wondered aloud. "If we're going, we have to go today. We're lucky we've had this much time to get back on track." He finished.

Ark nodded and sighed. "We should go." Ark explained. "I'll go for the Skeleton King, Right after I incapacitate Onyx, that is."

It was a two hour flight, which was long for the relatively short distance through space that the robot needed to cover. Truth was, the team couldn't handle a large defensive force, so stealth was a top priority for as long as possible.

As Ark expected, there was little resistance to deal with once they entered the citadel, and the path to the throne room was left obviously open. The Skeleton King was waiting, so stealth was no longer an issue.

The group strode into the throne room, unsurprisingly finding Skeleton King sitting on a throne with the rest of the team at this sides, grinning madly with eyes brimming with evil. The Skeleton King went to talk, but Ark cut him off. "Just shut up and fight." Ark stated as sand burst from his sleeves, pinning Onyx to the wall as the battle began.

Nova was only going half strength, seeing as she was fighting Caitlyn, and the team couldn't afford to cause any severe internal injuries. This didn't go both ways, however, as the mind-controlled team members were literally going for the jugular.

Sprx nearly had his head cleaved off by Antauri's claws, but was knocked out of the way by Gibson, who by chance noticed Sprx' impending doom out of the corner of his eye.

Otto was squared off against Chiro, who was unleashing brutal attacks which Otto would only block. He was hesitant to attack his family, but soon realized the gravity of the situation and began pushing Chiro back.

The fight with Ark and Onyx was short lived. As soon as the sand hit Onyx, Ark used precise movements to disable the wiring in Onyx's brain by pulling out a few wires, leaving Onyx's limp body to slump to the floor, and be promptly rushed away by Gibson back to the robot as Ark squared off with the Skeleton King.

"You're a coward." Ark stated bluntly, sand dancing at his feet and his tail swishing in annoyance. "You'll pay for the atrocities you've committed against those who follow the light." Ark sighed. "Enjoy hell."

The Skeleton King merely laughed. "I'm a coward, you couldn't even stop me from taking your friends, some help you are." He sneered. Ark shifted uncomfortably, prompting the skeleton king to continue. "Oh, did I hit a sore spot? Pity, it doesn't seem sore enough…" he laughed before the controlled team members fell to the floor writhing in agony, trying to rip off the collars. "Maybe if I kill your friends, you'll realize how worthless you are."

It was at this very moment that all sense of reason and intelligence disappeared to a dark, sheltered corner of Ark's mind as his body exploded with energy as he jumped upon the Skeleton King and the collars stopped.

The team members all stood, the collars falling to the ground in a series of metallic clinks. The team just stayed silent as they watched in horror as Ark literally tore the Skeleton King apart.

Mere moments later, a wild eyed, blood soaked Ark turned to stare down the team, hatred boiling in his eyes as the energy slowly subsided. This time, however, his hands remained clawed and his shoulders hunched, even after the energy vanished and he slumped to his knees on the cold stone floor.

"It's over." Caitlyn stated, rubbing her arm nervously with a troubled look in her eyes. Nova merely led her inside, assuring her everything was fine.

In the end, three people remained in the room: Gibson, Antauri, and Ark.

"Are you alright, Ark?" Antauri asked after a few moments while stepping towards him.

"No." Ark stated plainly. "I don't remember what just happened, I just felt this _evil_ tearing in my soul, I feel so dirty." He remarked, looking at his hands. "The side effects of my powers are becoming more prevalent. It's really imperative that I get to my on universe quickly before I do serious damage here." Ark stated as Gibson helped him up and to the robot.


	6. Chapter 6

_New chapter in honor of a new reader! Cheers mate!_

Ark remained perched on the robot's shoulder for a few solid days after its return, visited periodically by good intentioned teammates who only wished to sway him from his broodings; none were successful, assuredly, as he persisted situated vigilantly for yet another night. It was the fifth night that brought any change, though not of any comforting variety.

Antauri was suddenly thrust from the comforts of a dreamless sleep by a violent and unwelcome flood of psychic energy. Normally, this energy was latent in the surrounding environment; all living beings gave it off residually as the mind functioned, but this was far from natural, and certainly painful to whomever was giving it off. Such fierce energy was given off only in times of intense mental strain, and even then, only from an individual with intense mental training. Antauri quickly dashed to the elevator tubes, taking Chiro's signature orange pipe to a few levels lower, barely, but perceptibly noticing a decrease in the ferocity of the energy. Antauri's brilliant mind worked like proverbial lightning as he took the tub as high as it could take him; almost bring him to his knees. If it grew less intense in closer proximity to Chiro, then the boy was not the source, and only one other member of the team had exhibited intense mental prowess…

A light wind was the only physical sign that something may be amiss when Antauri exited onto the robot's shoulder, save of course, for Ark himself. To the untrained eye, he appeared to be exhibiting schizophrenic symptoms: improper emotional outbursts, such as laughter regardless of his obvious pain, delirious ramblings and response to painful hallucinations. However, to Antauri's well trained mental "eye", it was apparent by the tumultuous state of his previously highly organized mind that he was fighting a mental war: with himself. It was at this moment that Antauri took an appropriate physical observation of the scene.

Primarily, it was apparent that Ark had changed somehow. His fur was snow-white, and parts of his bandages had been shredded away, exposing more of the fur. His eyes were flecked with red floating in the still dominant blue, but it could be seen easily that the blue was slowly fading away. His fangs stuck prominently from his mouth, now unhidden by his collar, which he had apparently torn with the aforementioned fangs. Finally, his breathing was rougher, which, when coupled with the length of his claws which were now digging harshly into his temples as he gripped his skull, and the growl now present in his murmuring voice, gave him a very predatory image.

Before Antauri could even consider a possible course of action, Ark turned slowly towards him, his eyes wide with a deep-seeded fear. Tears welled up in his eyes as they burned with an increasingly fierce red glow. "Monster… I am a monster…" he choked, standing shakily to his daunting height of somewhere over six feet, but now somewhat more hunched, as if suited to quadripedal movement. "I couldn't protect them…" he muttered, staggering forward before tripping, plummeting headlong off of the side of the robot. Antauri sprung into action, dashing forward to find he had landed only a short was down, onto an exposed maintenance plate for the chest section, and thankfully, he was unconscious, and his minor injuries could already be seen healing. Antauri sighed in relief, and leaped down to Ark.

Morning could not have come soon enough, as Antauri was able to bring Ark back to full consciousness just before dawn. He seemed shaken and visibly agitated, but otherwise back to normal, physical changes aside. However, with the approach of footsteps, his emerging willingness to converse vanished behind his typical stoical façade. He moved out of sight as the door slid open to reveal Chiro.

"Oh, Antauri, what are you doing up this early? I thought I'd be the first one to get through training today, and then I was going to check on Ark... Maybe we can train together? It's been a while!" he stated jovially.

Antauri was prepared to decline, but the sudden closing of a door behind him reassured him for the moment. "Very well, Chiro. I am eager to test your improvements."

Ark wandered semi-aimlessly about the robot. In earnest, he was attempting to navigate back to the main room, but his currently clouded mind prevented him from appropriately gaining a sense of direction or adequate focus on his path. After some time, he eventually found himself in the main room, still before any of the others had awakened. Quietly, he sat on a couch and curled up tightly, closing his eyes to try and ignore the throbbing headache he had.

Two hours passed before voices could be heard approaching from the hallway, Sprx and Nova's, to be exact, both bickering with each other, but half heartedly; their displays of affection had become far less shrouded since the last time the skeleton king had been an issue. At first, neither noticed his lithe form, quietly resting in an obscure corner of the couch. If it hadn't been for his dark clothes, they might not have noticed him at all, as they were simply passing through, yet Nova perked up considerably when she caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye.

"Sprx, look! Ark's back inside!" She stated excitedly, interrupting Sprx's diatribe about Gibson's most recent show of his unbridled confidence in his intelligence. Sprx turned his head, and, sure enough, she was right. He shook him lightly on the shoulder, causing him to open his eyes and stare at Sprx.

"I thought you didn't sleep, kid." Sprx joked, earning a small smirk from Ark, who muttered something about a headache before standing slowly.

"How long was I outside?" he asked softly, his voice sounding like a low growl, almost beastly in quality.

"Almost five days. We couldn't get you to come back inside… we were worried." Nova stated quietly. "Are you… alright now?"

"That depends on what qualifies as 'alright'." Ark sighed, his hands hidden within his robes. "But if you mean am I 'back', then yes. I'm sorry I made you all worry."

Nova stopped him with a hand gesture. "No, no, no, don't say that. Come on, we'll get you something to eat." She stated warmly, walking off towards the kitchen.

_Haha, yes, I've raised more questions than answers! Drop in a review, and tune in next time!_


	7. Chapter 7

_Compulsive new chapter inspired by watching the series. I had the idea for this a long time ago, but the "I Chiro" refresher course I just took sparked my memory._

_Also, I'm considering accepting some original characters for feature in this story. They must be well developed, and believable. Post a bio in a review to submit your character!_

**Lost**

**Chapter 7**

By midday, things had fallen back into a regular schedule on the robot. Ark's physical changes weren't noticed by most of the team's members as they went about their duties, partly due to Ark's tendency to isolate himself. Today, however, Ark decided that he would prefer something less monotonous then meditation, at least for a while.

Unsurprisingly, Chiro and Antauri had finally taken a break after hours of extensive training, leaving the room open for a merrily isolated session of intensive training. First instinct would have prompted Ark to initiate the top level training exercise, but due to his recent… changes, Ark selected a more subdued training regiment in order to come to terms with any changes in his movement.

He soon found he had difficulty covering distances quickly while standing up straight, or even hunched over, yet by pushing off with both his hands and feet, he felt an intense increase in his already formidable speed. His agility had also increased, and, facilitated by his newfound claws, his close combat skills were far more formidable. His magic seemed unaffected, but one thing was vastly troubling: any vision he conjured of the future was hazy at best.

"The foul demon has claimed my foresight as payment… so be it." Ark muttered. In truth, it frightened him. He felt vulnerable, and in a sense, blind, yet did not express it outwardly, save for an extra bit of force behind his latest kick.

The hiss of an opening door was far too little to snap him out of his analysis as he ducked and soared through various obstacles, peppering various targets with glass fragments and defiling others with large gashes from his claws. He was only brought to a stop by Chiro's cheering from the observation deck, which prompted him to skid to a stop on all fours before straightening up slowly.

"How long have you been observing, Chiro?" Ark asked. Chiro's prompting for more colloquial speech had gotten through in at least one respect.

Chiro shuffled his feet a bit, looking down. "Only for a few minutes… Sorry if you were trying to train privately… It's just nice to see you up and about again, and just back to normal."

Ark sighed, and walked up to the boy, placing his hand on his shoulder and squatting down to his level. "Chiro, you are a fine leader… and friend, to all on this team. You are developing into a formidable master of your own powers, and only have time as a limit to your growth. You needn't worry about me; after a couple of millennia, it all becomes relatively monotonous. But… there is something I wish to discuss with you… privately." Ark stated, causing the ever increasing grin on Chiro's face to dim at the seriousness of Ark's tone.

"You're not alright, are you?" Chiro asked quickly. Before Ark could respond, Chiro began to rant. "You're a part of this team, Ark, whether you like it or not. We need all of our members to function at full capacity to be effective, so stop hiding your issue and be out with it already!"

Ark was taken aback by Chiro's forcefulness, but, after all, he was the leader for good reason. Still, the problem was more than complex, so he would have to explain carefully.

"Very well then, sir." Ark stated, shutting off any colloquial friendliness out of instinct. "Mr. Antauri has informed of the nature of your special bond with him, or more to the point, your experiences while your souls occupied one form." Ark started, glaring coldly at Chiro who appeared curious, yet uncomfortable. "To be brief, in a sense, I can empathize."

Chiro perked up and went to question Ark, who merely plowed ahead with his explanation. "In order for you to understand me, you need to understand my past." Ark muttered, and with the quickness of lightning, grabbed Chiro's head, thrusting them both into a vision of a long distant past.

--

_It was dark…_

_Years and years had passed since that fateful day… the day I was betrayed._

The trees rustled restlessly under a fierce easterly wind as they stared each other down. One, a young blond, blue eyed man in traditional desert garb stared at the other, a large black fox with nine tails, its eyes glowing red as it snarled mischievously at the man. In his hand, he held a large, bladed staff, two sickles resembling crescent moons curving to meet point-to-point. Covered in runes, the staff reflects the light of the sun raggedly through the trees.

The man began to yell "Kurushimi, demon king of foxes, why hast thou ravaged these villages? Had we not made a pact under the watch if the gods, my friend?"

The fox began to chuckled sadistically, creeping ever closer, ready to pounce. "Foolish man of the gods, do you not know your true heritage? Your brothers and sisters betray you! They send me to drag you into the depths of the void!" he snarled, now circling the man.

"I shall not fall for your trickery, fox. You have trespassed on my home, killed my followers. For this… I cannot forgive you, friend!"

"I don't need your forgiveness, I was promised your strength as my reward! Who would be foolish enough to turn down the blood of an immortal as their prize?" Kurushimi laughed, leaping into the air and slashing furiously at the man, who blocked deftly with his staff.

The man shook with shock and fear, staggering slightly as blood began to seep through the section of his robes covering his thigh. "You are a fool, demon, for believing me to be an immortal… do you not see the blood that readily flows from my veins?! You have been duped, you senseless beast!" He yelled, using his blood to draw quick runes onto the ground, but not quickly enough. In a flash, he was pinned to the ground, Kurushimi's jaws clamped in a vice-grip on his throat, slowly digging into his flesh as he tried vainly to pry them open.

Tears streamed down his face as he could feel blood in his throat and the comfort of death slowly creeping upon him. His grib begins to slacken, resulting in the sickening crunch of teeth beginning to crush bone.

The man closed his eyes, welcoming and relishing the thought of death. He had been betrayed by his friend, and his gods… his existence was now inconsequential. He only wished it had ended differently, that he could have continued serving the needs of his people without ever knowing the truth.

A sudden noise startled him, as did the sudden dripping of some warm liquid onto his face. He opened his eyes, noticing the pressure on his throat gone, to find Kurushimi staring angrily in shock, a large spear of glass penetrating his chest. The sight startled the man, who clutched as his neck, to find no wound. He began to panic; was he dead? Trapped in the void with his own death haunting him for all time? No… it became clear to him, it started to flood back into his mind, memories of a life long forgotten, who he had been…

He stood slowly as Kurushimi ripped the glass from his side, raw power emanating off of the man's form. "Hear me, fox! I thank you for returning my memories, and shall repay you with a swift death! I am Ark, lord of these eastern sands… may they drink your blood to quench the endless thirst of the desert…" he roared, his retrieving his staff and dashing to deliver the killing blow to the fox.

But it happened so quickly… his eyes, they were no longer that foreign red, they were pleading, but far too late. There was blood on his blade, but soon, he felt the most unimaginable pain, his body structure twisting and contorting as the fox's lifeblood flowed freely. It was only know that Ark recognized the marking's on the beast's body. "A control curse…" he muttered, observing the first, he moved to the second quietly, resisting his own pain. "A binding curse…" he muttered, beginning to laugh as he rolled onto his back, ignoring the searing pain in his head and his lower back. "It was a trap… the whole time…" he chuckled before slamming his fist into the ground, and cursing to high heaven itself. The forest soon echoed with the resonating screams of both man and beast becoming one.

--

Suddenly, Chiro found himself back in the training room, with Ark crumpled against the far wall, panting. He also found Sprx suddenly in front of him and Gibson to his side. Sprx's weapon was charged; it's had been fired recently. "Sprx! What are you doing!" Chiro yelled, attempting to get past the red monkey, only to be held back by Gibson.

"That's not Ark, take a look at him, kid. You're not blind, and he was doin' something weird to you!" Sprx shouted, preparing to fire again as Ark squirmed on the opposite side of the room.

Truth be told, there were some definite changes. White fur was slowly creeping down his arm, and he remained huddled against the wall, a soft whimper emanating from his form. He was even shaking, and then something occurred to Chiro. If physical damage caused Ark to undergo further change, then the curse must be taking advantage of his regenerative abilities.

Chiro couldn't break free of Gibson, and needn't have done so before Antauri deftly pushed Sprx out of the way just as he fired, leaving the ball of electromagnetic energy to merely singe some of Ark's skin. And, almost to prove Chiro's idea, the area regenerated as white fur instantly, causing Ark to whimper slightly louder, flicking a gaze from his one visible eye towards Chiro, pleadingly, almost like…

"The fox!" Chiro stated, breaking free of Gibson and dashing over to Ark, who merely hid his face further.

A muffled chuckle could be heard coming from him, though. "This is why I wanted to speak to you _in private_." Ark groaned. Chiro merely sighed and helped him up; bringing him to sickbay as Antauri reprimanded Sprx. Chiro took note not to mention the clearly fox-like face Ark had adopted.

"This is why I came to you, Chiro." Ark muttered as they walked, Chiro quickly catching Ark's gaze. "I need to come to terms with my inner beast… and I'm going to help you do the same, if you'll have me… like this…"

Chiro stopped, looking directly into Ark's visible eye, now noticing it had an almost purple shade, coupled with a demonic vertical pupil. "You don't need to question your place here, Ark. And I'll discuss your offer with Antauri, as he is involved as well. Now go rest; we'll talk tonight."


	8. Chapter 8

**Lost**

_**Chapter 8**_

Three days had since passed since Chiro's venture into Ark's past, and the youth had yet to see neither hide nor hair of their immortal companion since, prompting worry and restlessness about the entire robot. Sensors could not locate him, and surveillance revealed that he had indeed exited the robot shortly after exiting the medical bay that evening.

Furthermore, city wide surveillance revealed that he'd never made it into the city, which only fostered more suspicion; especially when coupled with the energy spike that coincided with Ark's disappearance, both on extreme distance and proximity sensors. The team quickly drew one simple conclusion: the sand deity had doubtlessly been captured by a party as of yet unknown to the hyperforce, despite rampant speculation.

The evening of the third day cleared up any possible confusion.

"Ah, the hyperforce… it's been a while…" the transmission screen cracked, soon revealing the Skeleton King, perched royally upon his throne.

"Skeleton King!" Chiro muttered, "Haven't we beaten you enough already?" he chided, earning a smirk instead of the expected scowl from the skeleton king.

"Ah, boy, but it seems that now I have the advantage…" he laughed, moving to reveal Ark, now more animalistic than ever before, bound by energy beams inside of a cylindrical force field. He roared with inhuman ferocity as he struggled vainly, eliciting a powerful electric shock in return which prompted the white fur to further replace his skin.

Chiro's breath hitched in his throat as Antauri spoke up. "You know that we will refuse to bargain, Skeleton King." He stated calmly, staring intently at Ark's writhing form, locking eyes with him through the technological barrier that was the communication screen.

Everything was null as Antauri's mind was flooded with images of a secluded compartment of the robot, all the while perforated with Ark's forlorn voice urging him to stay away; ending with a resounding "Trap!" as Antauri came to his senses forcibly after the communications link was severed.

Without explanation, Antauri bolted from the room, the rest of the team trailing behind, trying to piece together their second in command's impulsive actions. "I've no time to explain! Chiro, follow me, the rest of you need to contact any allies we have accumulated recently; this won't be easy." He yelled, earning affirmative remarks from the team as they went about their duties.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Searching for almost twenty minutes, Antauri finally slowed to a stop; his destination at hand. "The maintenance storage compartment…" he panted, "I saw it in a vision; there is something inside… Be on your guard, Chiro." He stated, opening the hatch slowly, causing the automatic lighting to flicker to life. Chiro gasped lightly as they entered the small room.

At first, it appeared that the walls were covered in the strange musings of a deranged mind. Hoards of calculations and crude drawings adorned the metallic walls, seemingly written in blood. Repeated scrawlings of "-1 + 1 = 0" could be seen interspersed between utterings of the word "balance". All in all, it was entirely nonsensical; unless paired with a small, crude diagram hidden behind a small pile of papers. It was headed with a quote, which encircled the entire diagram, reading: "I am the Ark that comes to save you from drowning in your sorrow, or frying in the heat of your anger. I am balance."

It suddenly became clear to Antauri what the entire purpose of the room was: and it was far less simple than it seemed. A chilling prospect crossed his mind, filling him with the confusion of a simple solution to an impossible problem.

Chiro regarded the walls carefully. "There's no logical reason to repeat such a simple mathematical fact; and integer and its opposite will cancel each other out when added together." He muttered to himself, noting Antauri's grim visage.

The silver monkey's response was simple and profound. "Set the robot to thermally clean this room. When we recover Ark the less evidence remaining of these ravings, the better." Antauri stated clearly, looking at Chrio's confused face. "If he's getting at what I think he is, he plans to wipe out evil in the most fair way possible: if he eliminates good, evil cannot exist."

Chiro's facial expression darkened at this revelation as he considered such implications. "So Sparks was right, I was wrong to trust him."

Antauri could sense the boy's sadness and led him from the room. "It is no fault of yours, now come, we must stop the Skeleton King before he releases powers he does not understand."

\\\\\\\\

Two figures of above average height surveyed the smoldering ruins of Ark's house with exasperated poses, rain pattering off an invisible shield that surrounded them. The shorter of the two, a lithe young man in a heavy blue hooded cloak threw his arms up in frustration. "Lore, it's taken a month and a half to track down the old man's hideaway, and here we find it completely obliterated. This is getting ridiculous."

The second figure, Lore, shrugged lightly. His distinguished elvish features compared starkly to the very kind face of Roy Mindweaver, the other person with him. "Well Roy, it probably would've gone a lot easier if he actually wanted us to find him. You know how particular the sand-walker is with his secrets." He explained, his green eyes shining in a flash of lightning that highlighted a gold ring around his irises.

A similar ring could be seen around Roy's deep blue eyes as they glowed with magical force, the profoundly talented mind-mage attempting to find their guide to all things immortal. Indeed, their eyes were their most binding trait, for elves and men were not often such regular traveling companions. Their gold-ringed eyes marked them as the chosen, The Ringed Ones, heirs to the immortal thrones. Ark was the key to finding the other similarly destined creatures of their world, but he had taken a break that was very uncharacteristic.

And now he was gone.

What fascinated both the elf and man was the odd rift floating where the house used to be, a chaotic swarm of violent magics that physically pulled on them both. Even as the thought skirted Lore's mind, Roy had already felt it. "Into the rift then? I'd heard of dimension-shifting magic, but I thought it was a myth. Then again, we follow a living god around the earth looking for other soon-to-be-immortals. I shouldn't really be surprised anymore."

Lore's polite chuckle and sweeping arm gesture indicated quite clearly that Roy was going first whether he liked it or not, and soon enough, a loud bang was the only hint that someone had been at the ruins at all.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Neither Roy nor Lore were as calm and collected when they were tossed haphazardly onto the desert sand outside Shuggazoom. "I've been the victim of any number of curse and enchantments, but nothing holds a candle to how unpleasant that was." The elf groaned, standing shakily and brushing himself off. Roy soon was next to him, staring at the awkwardly designed robot. "Roy, do you think you could-"

"Please, I'd be a disgrace if I hadn't already checked. He's not here, but there's more than one living thing inside that hideous monstrosity." Roy replied, looking at his pocket watch. "Let's get this over with, it's almost midnight by Hennsha time and I'm still not used to the time difference in our own universe, never mind this place. I think Ark'd like this place though, nice and dry, lots of sand…"

Lore chuckled lightly and started off towards the robot, his fingers wrapped tightly around his ritual-club while his other hand rested on the skin of his drum. Roy soon followed suit, his mind open to the presences inside the machine, probing at them before finally exerting considerable force, only meeting two who could really resist.

\\\\\\

Meanwhile, half a galaxy away the skeleton king retired to his chambers, content to plot out his next move over the din oh Ark's enraged screams that had the delightful blood-curdling quality one could only achieve through true torture.

"Soon I will truly be immortal, and then nothing will stand in the way of my conquests!" he cackled, his red eyes shining in the dark.


	9. Chapter 9

**Lost**

**Chapter 9**

"Hey Lore?"

"Yes Roy?"

"We should probably leave out the fact that we're fighting robotic monkeys when we get home."

"Perhaps, though it is rather entertaining. Such fantastic technology!" Lore replied, sliding skillfully out of the way of one of Otto's saw blades.

Roy clumsily parried one of Gibson's drills and chuckled. "Right, you've never been to Hennsha…" he started, trailing off at an intense mental presence trying to force its way into his mind. "We've got a psychic problem here Lore, do you think can handle a few monkeys for a bit?"

"Surely you're kidding. These aren't merely monkeys; they're fine specimens of technological achievement." Lore chided, grimacing as one of Gibson's bolds came well too close to his drum. "Rude little creatures though, do what you need to do." He added, ducking under Otto's saws before lunging forward, his club striking out with a sharp thud as it impacted the green monkey's stomach. The air pulsed for a second before Otto went rocketing across the living room into the wall.

Roy was only moderately aware of his surroundings, dancing mentally against an unseen force that was very well trained in probing minds. It wasn't violent, much to the contrary in fact, and that had Roy curious. So he tossed out a little bait in his usual sarcastic attitude, reaching out with his mind to speak telepathically.

"Pray tell you fantastic meddler of the mind, you wouldn't have happened to see an immortal around here, would you? About six foot three, blonde, blue eyes, controls sand? Oh and of course, he's just a little bit introspective-"

"I figured you were here looking for Ark. We don't have much time, he's not-" The meddling intent, clearly Antauri, responded.

"Look I'm rather aware that he's not here, so if you're going to blather about things I already know, I'll just get back to-" Roy trailed off, sensing a quick pulse of energy.

"Chiro Spearo!"

With that, the pulse was gone, and Lore dropped to his knee in time to get punched rather squarely in the face by a yellow monkey.

Roy growled audibly, his hands weaving magic as he muttered a spell. He spoke out with his mind to both the meddling presence and the boy who'd just arrived and was chattering like a chimp with the monkeys. "This is the part where I start frying brains."

Another pulse of energy and Roy flung his left arm forward, tendrils of blue mana streaking forth and piercing through each of those unlucky enough to be in the room, rendering them immediately unconscious, but otherwise uninjured. He knelt down to check on Lore, who was struggling to his feet, rather displeased at the large burn-mark on his tunic.

"You gonna be okay, vinewalker?"

"I don't appreciate that slang term for my people, Roy."

"Yeah, you'll be fine." Roy replied, helping the taller elf to his feet. "Well, you can talk to the animals fine enough, what were they chattering about?"

Lore brushed himself off, his gaze still occupied with his clothes. "There was a lot going on, and they're dialectually a little different than anything I encountered, so it took me most of the fight to understand. They were going on about not having time for a fight. The red one kept saying that he knew trouble would come in 'his' wake. I don't think it's that infeasible to think he meant Ark." The elf explained, his hand glowing green as his tunic re-wove itself, the fibers springing to life long enough to grow before dying again.

Roy sighed in response. He hated having to tediously peel apart people's memories to find the right information, and with this many people involved, he was looking at a good day or so of searching. He felt that probing presence on the edge of his mind again, and sighed. "You can come out now, there's nothing to be gained by hiding anyway." He drawled, whipping his brow before sitting down on a nearby couch in time for a silver monkey to make its way into the room. "I'm a little worn out from that last spell, so Lore, if you don't mind…"

Lore politely waved Roy off and bowed respectfully to the silver animal before him, speaking in animal-tongue but maintaining his polite attitude. "Terribly sorry to intrude, but Roy is a tad impatient. We're looking for a friend of ours, something rather pressing has come up back home and it is crucial that we find him as quickly as possible." The elf politely explained, receiving a hurried response from the monkey.

"I was trying to tell your friend that I know why you're here. We were getting ready to go rescue Ark. I'm sure you're much more familiar with his animal side than we are, but it seems he's losing a battle with the beast within him. Furthermore, he's in the clutches of the Skeleton King, the embodiment of evil in our galaxy." Antauri explained.

Lore visibly paled. "That is most unfortunate. Rouse your friends, wise one, while I converse with Roy. Your skills are formidable, but you will need help if Ark is left to fight off his personal demons." He explained, eliciting a nod from Antauri. Lore looked at Roy with a serious face, and no words were exchanged. Roy _knew_ what was wrong immediately.

"I'll fetch Stephen then. Help get these critters ready to fight, I shouldn't be more than a few minutes." Roy explained aloud, looking past Lore with a sigh. "Never mind."

Stephen's iridescent mask was peering around a nearby corner, before he stepped out into the open with a soft chuckle emanating from the speakers mounted in his helmet. "Sorry, old byproduct of my programming sir, I can't help but investigate such foreign technology." Stephen explained in his soft voice, lowering his head slightly in apology. Though human in spirit, nothing was left of Stephen Oak's body, long ago destroyed against his will to make him the perfect weapon. Now instead of hunting mages like Lore and Roy, he was one of their most powerful allies. Sleek and stealthy with an unrivaled ability to kill and a penchant for communicating with electronics, he was truly a force to be reckoned with.

Antauri spoke with his mind to all three, but Stephen was impervious and merely observed the room curiously, his sensors absorbing every bit of information he could gather. He hummed lightly to himself, reaching out to touch the wall as Antauri spoke. "I am Antauri, and we are the Hyperforce, the protectors of Shuggazoom city and this galaxy. We are a little on edge, and some of us are untrusting of things we do not understand." He explained, motioning to Sprx who was sitting up and groaning. "I cannot reach your friend, is he-"

"A robot? Indeed. His electronics probably rival your own." Roy responded in his mind, as lore spoke aloud.

"We need to get this metal giant back into fighting condition then." He explained. Much to everyone's surprise, Stephen spoke up, turning his head towards them while he deftly opened a wall panel to grab at some circuitry.

"Primate dialects are very easy to understand, and even though I am hardly a real person at this point, I rather dislike being ignored in conversation." He replied in perfect mimicry of the way Lore spoke in the monkey's language. "Your mech is rather talkative and has quite a personality despite its bland name. If you would kindly get injuries to sick bay, I can help augment the repair equipment to speed up the process." Stephen explained, recovering the wall panel and striding past lore to help Chiro to his feet. "My sensors indicate you are uninjured, sir. If you would kindly help your green friend, Otto if I recall, to the repair bay I'll fix him up immediately."

Lore looked at Roy incredulously. "I didn't know he could do that."

Roy replied with his mind. "Stephen rarely disappoints when it comes to surprises. Now then, shall we get introductions out of the way now so we can get underway? I dread leaving the girls in charge back home…"


	10. Chapter 10

**Lost**

**Chapter 10**

Stephen's hands traced delicate movements across the metal body of Nova, the android silent and busy analyzing a torrent of data from innumerable sensors that lines his body. He was far from lost in the task, instead donating generous time to contemplating his relationship with the mystical anomaly know as Ark.

He'd been compiling data on the odd organism since he was originally tasked with investigating his regenerative abilities for the military, but Ark had surprised him in ways he had yet to recover from, namely revealing to young Stephen that he was not human, or at least not anymore. Stephen's troop was only partially cybernetic, but he'd been kept in the dark about his entirely mechanized body. The military needed a weapon, and his original body had taken very well to the modification process. They didn't, however, account for the presence of a soul.

That is what Ark insisted was important, and Stephen was still trying to grasp the concept. Furthermore, according to Ark, he was once a very magically inclined being, a Ringed One like Roy and Lore. Stephen wasn't exactly sure on the details, but it was seemingly very important since there were supposedly only twelve other Ringed Ones besides himself.

He'd taken to studying the sand-deity after realizing that he'd be hard-pressed to find true companionship in Ark's current protégé, Roy. He hadn't had the best experience with the military's attitude towards magical anomalies, and Stephen tended to share a mutual respect with the mind-mage, but kept his distance.

He wasn't particularly familiar with Lore, who was often off on errands in exotic lands at Ark's request. He seemed a nice enough person, though a bit uncomfortable around highly advanced technology. Stephen was an extreme example of such overwhelming technology, so he kept his distance.

These cyborg primates, The Hyperforce, were an entirely different class of being. A perfect meld of enhanced cybernetics with integrated tools and weaponry that managed to preserve the mental functions of the host body was nearly unheard of. Stephen's own body may be more advanced, but all organic parts were eventually replaced. They were different, special, and as close to himself as he'd ever encountered. One of them, the second in command Antauri, was actually entirely robotic like himself. Stephen wanted to talk to him, try and discuss the difficulties he felt when dealing with what he was, but he couldn't bring himself to do it, for Antauri was missed when he was gone.

Stephen wasn't sure he mattered enough to be missed. Such a melancholy thought was uncommon for the android, but they had become more frequent.

Nova stirred under his hands as her power supply came back online, Stephen's diligent hands connecting wires at blazing speeds. The polarized visor that made up his face reflected the awakening hero while hiding the circuitry that made up Stephen's mind. Readings danced across the visor's inner surface as his HUD was flooded with data. He inwardly sighed and stood, saluting in a traditionally military manner as Nova sat up quickly, looking at him in an agitated manner as she brought her fists up.

"Ma'am. I-3300 Series, Model B Stephen Oaks reporting for duty." He chirped in the monkey's language, earning a confused look but not a lowered guard from Nova.

"I don't understand."

"You were incapacitated, I have volunteered to aid in repairs for your unit." Stephen replied quietly.

"My unit?" Nova replied, lowering her fists. "Is everyone-"

"No need to worry, ma'am. No one received major injuries. In fact, young Chiro is in your living quarters with Antauri discussing the logistics of a rescue mission." Stephen explained cautiously.

Nova started to reply when a spark shot off her right fist, causing her to grunt in pain.

Stephen cautiously took a step forward. "Ma'am, if it wouldn't offend you, could I have a look?" he asked softly, extending his sleek, armored hand.

Nova kept her eye on him while she placed her wrist in his hand. She tried to read anything from his body posture, but she could only sense shy sincerity. She was brought back to reality by a light clicking sound, and she looked to her wrist to find him working on the circuitry in the back of her hand with extreme calm and dexterity. "How can you talk to me? It's not often that I talk to a human." She queried, noticing the ever slightest flinch in his movements, but again, his visor betrayed nothing.

Stephen's voice was much colder and detached this time. "I am not human, ma'am. I am simply a machine." He explained, closing a panel on her fist and saluting again. "I must attend to the others, if you'll excuse me…" he finished, moving away quickly to wordlessly begin attending to Gibson.

Nova was quiet for a moment before standing and leaving the medical bay, looking back at Stephen while flexing her hand.

She couldn't remember a time when it had felt so _natural_.

\\\\\\\\\

Roy pinched the bridge of his nose as he slumped back in his chair, a throbbing headache plaguing the young mind-mage. They'd been discussing logistics with Antauri and Chiro for hours now. Granted, significant progress had been made, but Roy's numerous attempts to reach out to Ark had simply ended in either total exhaustion or crippling pain, leaving the young human with one definitive conclusion: something bad had already happened, and he dared not assume the worst.

One only needed to deal with a demon once to learn not to do it again.

Still, Chiro had been exceptionally helpful in translating the conversation so that Roy didn't have to keep up an active mental connection and drain himself further. Roy's relief was apparent when Nova entered, much to Chiro's relief as he nearly flung himself at the yellow monkey and embraced her. Roy suddenly heard Antauri speaking to him mentally.

"I can see you're exhausted, Roy. Why don't you go rest, and Lore as well. We'll be underway shortly anyway, so you'll need to be at your best." He explained, earning a nod from Roy who then explained the idea to Lore, who also agreed readily to such obvious logic. Antauri in turn, ushered both Chiro and Nova from the living area so the two newcomers could get some rest.

As they walked back towards the medical bay, they did their best to fill Nova in on any details that eluded her, eventually again settling on the subject of Stephen.

"So he's just a machine then. That's what he told me, anyway. Kind of life-like for some soulless automaton." Nova wondered aloud, flexing her fist again. "He's a whiz with tech though, my hand has never felt this good." She added, noticing a bit of pensiveness in Antauri's eyes, before she could speak, Chiro spoke up.

"From what I could gather from Roy, he used to be human, but for some weird military purpose he was made into a weapon of war." The boy explained, shrugging. "Roy also explained that Ark takes a particular interest in him lately, constantly insisting that he be treated like a person and not a machine." He finished.

"Lore implied that he has a soul." Antauri said suddenly, almost to himself. Chiro and Nova stopped and looked at him curiously. "But if he was just a machine, how could he have a soul?" Nova asked.

"For all intents and purposes, I am just a machine as well, Nova." Antauri responded, causing Nova to recoil in embarrassment.

"But we're still not exactly sure how your spirit interacts with your new body, Antauri. Monkey-spirit energy definitely had nothing to do with anything in their universe." Chiro replied.

"No, but magic surely did. You've seen what Lore and Roy are capable of, let alone Ark. What's to say something magical didn't affect Stephen?"

The sudden clank of approaching metal footsteps halted their conversation as Stephen rounded the corner with all three other monkeys, locked in technical conversation with Gibson about things that were far over anyone else's head. Still, Nova noticed that his voice was not as kind as it had been when he had spoken to her. She sighed slightly and resolved to make him feel like he was more than some tool.

Chiro stepped forward confidently and extended his hand to Stephen, who was notably taller than the boy. "Stephen, thank you for everything you've done for us, we're happy to have you as a friend." He stated in earnest.

Stephen's stance visibly adjusted and he gingerly took the boy's hand to shake it. "Thank you, sir." He replied. "Do you have any further orders?"

Chiro frowned a little and Antauri spoke up. "Stephen, I'm simply curious as to your perspective on what's happening. You know Ark as well as Roy or Lore, in fact, I suspect better than either of them. Is there anything you think would help with this situation?"

Stephen quirked his head slightly, and his visor glowed a little as his HUD filled with historical files. "Well sir-"

"My name is Antauri, Stephen. We're equals, so feel free to act accordingly." Antauri stated calmly. Stephen shifted nervously again, not as he continued, Nova heard much of the liveliness return to his voice. He almost sounded _excited_.

"Noted, Antauri. According to intelligence gathered from my own experience, Ark tends to suppress the majority of his magical energy in order to prevent himself from succumbing to the lures of a demon that shares his earthbound form." Stephen explained. "At least that's what he told me, but I have my doubts." He added.

"It seems that Ark instead is very reluctant to use his abilities in any combat situation, and is particularly reluctant to use lethal force. I've noted that between the use of lethal and non-lethal maneuvers, Ark has a point oh-oh-five second hesitation before actually commencing the attack. This doesn't seem like much on an average level, but when it comes to someone who has 'lived a million lifetimes and watched the sun set on a thousand empires' he may as well have waited an eternity." Stephen explained, the glow in his visor fading slightly as he closed various data files. "Further than that, I can only speculate on his mental processes based on psychological trends and my own observations of his mannerisms. Regardless, if his demonic side has chosen to assert itself, we have serious troubles on the horizon. There are few legends that involve fox demons that end favorably."

Antauri nodded, and Sprx was about to speak when an explosion rocked the robot. Roy stumbled into the hallway and looked at the group with a grim visage. "Forget having to go rescue anyone." He stated, but was cut off by Stephen. "He's here, and he's brought plenty of friends."

Chiro scowled as the everyone exited the robot to see the Skeleton King's citadel looming in the sky above, formless pouring from it and coating the desert and city in a shroud of evil beings.

Chiro pointed at the citadel valiantly. "Hyperforce, go!"


End file.
